Zoho enters payments sector with the launch of ‘Zoho Payments’

Chennai-based SaaS major Zoho, at Global Fintech Fest 2024 in Mumbai, announced its entry into the payments sector with the launch of Zoho Payments, a unified payment solution to help businesses accept money online from their customers.

Zoho Payments is a payment aggregator licensed by the RBI and a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL). 

It is designed to streamline B2B transactions through the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), offering a unified platform that simplifies invoice management and payments.

Comprehensive payment features

Zoho Payments provides businesses with a secure and seamless way to accept online payments, supporting various modes such as UPI, over 35 Net Banking options, and card payments.

The solution is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant, ensuring high security standards. It also enhances the checkout experience for end customers by reducing cart abandonment rates, thus helping businesses minimize revenue leakage.

The platform offers robust features like fraud management, transaction insights, and dispute handling, making it a powerful tool for optimizing financial operations.

Integration with Zoho's financial suite

One of the standout features of Zoho Payments is its deep integration with Zoho’s suite of financial applications, including Zoho Books, Zoho Billing, and Zoho Invoice.

The integration allows businesses to quickly start accepting online payments without needing third-party payment gateways.

“At Zoho, we strongly believe that business finance, banking, and payments should work together,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Global Head of Finance and Operations BU, Zoho.

“Towards this vision, we had launched our ‘Connected Banking’ solution across our finance apps, integrating with leading banks. With the launch of Zoho Payments today, along with B2B payment capabilities, we are able to achieve our goal. NBBL's BBPS standardises invoice presentment and payments, providing multiple payment modes, instant payment confirmations, invoice financing, and a unified platform for invoice transmission and reconciliation. This marks a major advancement in the fintech domain. As a result, we can now offer a more holistic financial management solution for businesses."

Streamlining B2B payments with BBPS

Zoho Payments' integration with the BBPS network enables businesses to streamline their B2B payment processes.

As a registered BBPOU, Zoho can onboard buyers and sellers onto the BBPS network, facilitating seamless invoice presentation and payments.

The standardization offers multiple payment modes, instant payment confirmations, and a unified platform for invoice transmission and reconciliation.

Invoices sent through Zoho Books on the BBPS platform are automatically recorded in the buyer's or seller's accounting software, reducing manual intervention and ensuring accuracy in financial records, the release notes.

Similarly, bills sent by their seller will be recorded automatically in Zoho Books. The company said that businesses can also obtain financing for their unpaid invoices from lenders on the TReDS platform through the BBPS network.

Providing flexible payment options

Zoho Payments allows businesses to accept and send payments through multiple modes, such as NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, UPI, cards, and Netbanking.

Once payments are received, the relevant information will be updated automatically and reconciled with the corresponding invoice, reducing the need for manual intervention.

Businesses will also have the option to make bulk payments for multiple bills, eliminating the cumbersome process of exporting bills for processing payments through the bank, the company said.